Write a commentNewry 2s 6-2 Portrush 2s
Newry played host to Portrush in the first league game of the season. From the beginning Newry were the much stronger side with a number of attacks on the Portrush goal. With Portrush being weak on the right hand side it allowed Gareth Alderdice to press hard from the right back position to play a number of balls into the box. Dale Pollock made the most of one of these and rattled home his first of three goals. Newry continued to push hard after the restart and after a brilliant ball from Moffett to Pollock, whos shot from a tight angle beat the young Portrush keeper on the near post. 2-0 Newry. Portrush pushed back at Newry but stand in keeper Ashley Collum pulled off a fantastic save on the line to keep Portrush at bay, however some poor defending allowed Portrush to pull a goal back before the break. Score at half time 2-1. In the second half Newry continued to dominate with Pollock searching for his hatrick. He came close with a one on one chance with the keeper only to see his shot roll past the wrong side of the post. Eventually though his goal would come to make the score 3-1. Portrush themselves went on the attack winning a short corner that was saved on the line with Kenny Best's foot and a penalty stroke awarded, keeper Collum came agonisingly close to saving the shot but couldn't. Score now 3-2. Game on. Portrush however started to tire and Newry quickly responded with a short corner, the Portrush keeper making the initial save which dropped to Captain Andrew Marks for a simple tap in. With the score 4-2 Newry had complete control with another 2 goals coming from McCafferty and Mcminn making the score 6-2. Newry were unable to further that lead before the final whistle. Score finished 6-2 in Newrys favour.
Team: A Collum G Alderdice A Marks E Grahame K Best M McCaigue D Liggett A McMinn S McCafferty D Pollock M McCullough J Niblock S Grahame P Moffett
North Down 1’s 0-4 Newry 1’s
Newry travelled to Comber on Saturday to take on North Down in a must win game. Newry had come agonisingly close to getting an unlikely point against Cookstown last week, they needed to build on this performance to get their season up and running.
Right from the start Newry were quicker to the ball all over the pitch as they started the brighter of the two sides. They needed to make their early dominance count and they duly did when Keith McWilliams was able to get on the end of a cross which he controlled and slipped through the keepers legs. Newry continued to remain on top but were wasting chances which nearly came back to haunt them only for young keeper Josh Porter to pull off a great save from a short corner to keep the visitors in the lead. Newry very nearly doubled their lead soon after when Kris Fletcher fired in a low cross which Jeremy Greer stretched to deflect it goal wards only to see it come off the inside of the post. It wasn’t long before Newry did get their second which came from a broken down short corner which Robert Irwin managed to scramble over the line. Newry further extended their lead on the stroke of half time when David England found McWilliams free in the circle who cleverly deflected the pass over the advancing keeper.
North Down started the better of the sides in the second half as they pressed the Newry defence in their search of a goal to get them back in the game. The Downshire Road men managed to weather this early storm and again started to dominate the play. They were now starting to break down the play and win the ball back inside the North Down half as they went in search of their forth. McWilliams finished off his hat trick when again Newry won the ball back deep in the North Down half by Irwin who played the ball forward to McWilliams who fired in a low miss hit reverse which beat the keepers outstretched foot. With the score 4-0 the match was effectively over as Newry continued to create opportunities and win short corners but they were wasteful in front of goal. Newry came home with their first three points of the season which seats them up well for next week’s match away to Portadown.
Team: J. Porter, C. Henning, N. Liggett, D. England, N. Davenport, C. McKnight, R. Irwin, N. McKnight, M. McCullough, K. Fletcher, K. McWilliams, J. Greer, A. Baird, A. Megaw
Ballynahinch Ladies 4-0 Newry Ladies
Newry ladies 1st Xl travelled to Ballynahinch for what is always known to be a tough defensive match and it proved to be just that.
In the first half Newry defended a series of penalty corners, the second of which saw a goal scored for the home side 10 minutes into the game.
Their second goal came 25 minutes in which prompted a change in defence formation going into the second half. Despite this and even with some excellent saves from newry goalkeeper Gillian Roney Ballynahinch scored another 2 goals in the second half.
Newry had 2 chances to score late on in the game but failed due to the skills of the Ballynahinch keeper.
An aggressive match was had by both teams which resulted in a number of green cards issued by both umpires against each team. Final score 4-0 to the home team.
Team: Avril Harpur (capt) Gillian Roney, Rebecca Murdock, Stephanie Smart, Lynne Ervine, Rachael Lockhart, Amy Wilson, Shannen Robinson, Suzanne Rollins, Kathryn Baird and Laura Girvan.
